


Interconnected

by hunters_retreat



Category: Stargate SG-1, Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Crossover, Dean at Stanford, M/M, Supernatural Crossover Big Bang Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-14
Updated: 2010-05-14
Packaged: 2018-01-08 09:24:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1130932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five months ago Dean Winchester showed up on his brother’s doorstep, bleeding and carrying with him the tale of their father’s death. Sam patched him back together and they settled into the normal, quiet life that Sam had always dreamed about. Until the day Sam took Dean to meet his best friend Jess at her family barbecue. He never expected to find an Air Force General there, or to have a Colonel take an unhealthy interest in the man he introduces as his lover. But when a hunt goes bad and Jack and Daniel find themselves caught in the hunt, will they create a new series of allies? Or will Sam and Dean become wanted by the Air Force’s best and brightest as well?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Interconnected

 

Sam stared out the kitchen window into the small yard of the house he and Dean were renting, still trying to figure out how he’d been talked into this today.  It wasn’t a big deal really, just a barbecue with some friends and family, but it wasn’t something Sam was overly familiar with and he was taking Dean into new territory.  Not that Dean ever stood out more than he wanted to, blending into the environment whenever it suited him, but this was different.  He was taking Dean to meet Jess in the midst of her family barbecue.  He wasn’t sure he was going to survive it.   
  
He’d never have thought his brother had it in him to give the normal life a try, but Dean had settled in as efficiently as he did everything else.  Not that he stopped hunting completely.  Dean believed in the good fight after all.  He had a place to come home to now though and a steady job.  Sam was even trying, unsuccessfully so far, to talk him into going back to school.  Sometimes the banter was good between them, fun like it used to be before he’d left Dean to go to Stanford.  Other times, there was too much time and space between them to feel anything less than strained.  They were all they had left though and they held on tightly.  
  
“Be ready in 30 minutes Sammy,” he heard Dean’s call before anything else, the screen door closing loudly in the living room behind him.  He looked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of Dean’s retreating back as he headed through the bathroom door.   
  
Sam wondered which job he’d come from, but from the lack of overalls dumped by the front door, he assumed it was the courier job.  Dean might be putting in 40 hour work weeks, but he didn’t do well in one job, 40 hours a week.  Instead he worked part time at a garage and part time with a courier service.  The local garage gave him most of his hours and the added bonus that he could work on the Impala there for free.  The courier job let him drive around the city and he just called in on the days he wanted to work instead of having to punch a clock every day.   
  
Dean loved being able to drive like that, to get free of the common everyday streets they lived on and away from campus to explore the whole of Palo Alto and the area surrounding it.  They’d never lived anywhere long enough to get to know the area like that and Dean seemed to get a thrill out of every new hole in the wall diner or arcane shop he dragged Sam to.  
  
Sam looked away from the bathroom, stretched to try to work out a kink from last weekend’s extra-curriculars.  He took a pretty nasty crash into a tree when he stood between a ghost and Dean as he’d been lighting the matches over the salted body.  The bruises were mostly gone, but the muscles still pulled sometimes and the last thing he wanted was to worry Dean or Jess today.   
  
He took a drink from his beer and opened another one, leaving it to sit on the counter.  The place wasn’t too big, a two bedroom guesthouse that had long ago been given over to renters.  It was a nice set up really.  The people who lived in the main house were an old couple that traveled more than they were home and after Sam had helped them with a small haunting his freshman year, they’d let him live there on a reduced rate.  He couldn’t have afforded to live in that nice an area otherwise.  Good thing too because while it had been nice when he was on his own, when Dean had moved in had become home in a way that no other place had.  They spent more time in their little secluded yard, not much more than a stretch of green grass and a high privacy fence, than Sam would have ever thought, lazing about long after dark in the warm California air together.   
  
He’d prefer to do that today, just hang out with his brother, no ghosts or hunts, just a day to themselves to enjoy and relax.  They hadn’t had a lot of that lately.  With Sam’s full load at school, Dean’s work hours, and their hunts on the weekends, they didn’t have a lot of time just to be together.  It was the way Dean still needed it to be but Sam needed the downtime and he knew Dean was going to crack anytime now if the didn’t take a break.  
  
Jessica’s family barbecue was perfect really.  He’d get Dean some free beer, something hot off a grill, and when the party died down they could come home and just enjoy the time off together.  
  
Something flicked the back of his ear and he was glaring as he watched Dean take the beer Sam had left out and take a long swig out of it.  “Have a nice day off Princess?”  Dean asked as he hopped up on the counter top.   
  
“Sure, a day off,” Sam said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.  
  
Dean smiled down at Sam and shook his head.  “How long ago did you stop studying?”  
  
“Dean,”  
  
“How long ago?”  
  
“2 hours.”  
  
Dean shook his head.  “You know what they say. All work and no play make Sammy a dull boy.”  
  
“That might explain the barbecue.”  
  
“Right, so is your girlfriend expecting us soon?”  
  
Sam shook his head.  “Say that to her and she’ll bite your head off dude.”  
  
“Why?  I’ve heard you talking to her on the phone Sam.  Don’t tell me she doesn’t want to eat you whole.”  
  
“We… we tried for a while.  It didn’t work out, but we managed to stay friends.  Jessica is a great girl Dean.  You know, you’d like her if you gave her a try instead of assuming everyone at Stanford has their nose in the air.”  
  
Dean sighed as he stopped the bottle half way to his lips.  “I promised Sam.  I’ll play nice today and make you proud.”  
  
“They love you already so you don’t need to do much.”  
  
“And just how would they love me when they’ve never met me?”  
  
Sam smiled, stepping closer into the open space between Dean’s legs.  Dean leaned into him and Sam let his cheek rub against the clean shaven skin of his brother’s jaw line. “Because I talk about you,” he said, taking a deep breath of his brother beneath the soap and aftershave.  “A lot.”  
  
“You tell them how your big brother makes you scream at night?”  Dean asked, angling his head slightly to bite at the long expanse of neck that was presented to him.  
  
Sam moaned as he leaned his head against Dean’s shoulder.  “No, somehow I don’t think they’d get that part,” he said with a smile as he pulled away.  “They have, however, heard about my boyfriend that moved in five months ago.”  
  
Dean frowned at his words but Sam knew it wasn’t about their relationship.  It was still new and a little uncomfortable sometimes for his brother, for them both really, to see what they’d gone through and how they’d come through, but they’d been playing the boyfriend routine up around the neighborhood since Dean had first come to town and he’d adjusted to it somewhat.   
  
It was the five months that bothered Dean.  Just a reminder of how he’d come to Sam was enough to turn Dean’s mood sour.  Sam didn’t like to think about it either, but it wasn’t the time to brood over their loss anymore than it was for Sam to lose himself in the guilt that always came with it.   
  
“Hey,” Sam said, trying to get out of the mood before it hit too hard.  “If we don’t leave now the food might be all gone before we get there.”   
  
Dean gave a half smile and Sam knew that he was trying, for him, as he jumped off the counter and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.   
  
“Let’s get going then.  You promised me some barbecue bitch!”   
  
Sam watched Dean down the last of his beer, then followed his brother out the door to walk the short distance to Jessica’s parents house and the family party that she’d been talking about all quarter long.  


 

  


 

“Should have known you’d show up when the food was ready,” Sam heard as they walked into the backyard, guided by a pair of little girls that he quickly recognized as Jessica’s second cousins, Kayla and Tessa.   
  
Sam looked up at Jessica and smiled as he wrapped her in a hug.  He could feel Dean waiting with the little patience he had.  “You know my stomach is a finely honed clock that always knows when the goods are available.”  
  
“I’ve noticed,” she laughed then, looking pointedly at Dean.  
  
“Jess, this is Dean.  Dean this is Jessica,” Sam managed to bite back his nervous smile.  When Dean had arrived he’d been too hurt to be introduced to Sam’s friends.  There was no way to explain his injuries so he’d spent most of his time outside of class with Dean, trying to help him heal, to let them both heal from the change that Dean had brought with him.  Once they’d gotten back to middle ground they’d found themselves awkward, tentatively exploring a side of their relationship they’d never had before.  The introduction to Jess, and to all his friends, was a long time coming.   
  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Dean said, taking Jessica’s hand in his for a moment, kissing the back of it in a grand gesture that Sam knew was to piss him off.  Relationship or not, Sam had always been jealous of Dean’s affection towards anyone else.   
  
“You’re Sam’s boyfriend?”  Jess asked with eyes slightly wide.  “You are way out of my friend’s league,” she teased.   
  
Dean laughed, and it was only Sam’s sensitive ear that could hear the nervousness.    Dean didn’t have an issue playing Sam’s boyfriend, but there were still enough issues that it caught him off guard sometimes, to be introduced as the boyfriend and not the brother.  It was harder still, knowing that the public acceptance they got was in stark contrast to what they knew would happen if people knew the truth of who they were.     
  
“I don’t know what I’d do without him,” Sam said, cheeks a slight shade of pink at the words, but he knew Dean would appreciate it even if his brother called him Samantha for a month afterwards.   
  
“Crash and burn,” Jessica supplied as she reached between them, linking her arms through theirs.  “Trust me Dean, I knew him when you weren’t around and the boy was a mess.  I swear he never learned to do a thing on his own until he moved here.”  
  
“Yeah well...”  Sam stuttered, not sure what to say that wouldn’t let Dean know how completely pathetic he’d been.  He could exorcise a demon in latin, load just about any weapon legal and illegal in the United States, but he’d almost burned the place down trying to cook pasta.  Jess had laughed for three weeks straight.  Her sense of humor was annoyingly like Dean’s at times.  “Being away from home for the first time was a bit harder than I thought it would be.”  
  
Jessica turned away from the conversation as she started introducing them to people Sam didn’t know and introducing Dean to all of their combined friends.  Dean just rolled his eyes behind her head but smiled warmly at Sam.  As hard as it was to get his brother to hear the compliment sometimes, he knew that this time Dean had taken them to heart.  He knew exactly what Sam meant when he said it had been hard.  The only thing Sam had missed of his former life had been Dean and the occasional moment of regret that he hadn’t found a way to set things right with his father.   
  
       


 

  
The pool was filled with young college students and Colonel Jack O’Neill was smiling, subtly watching General Hammond as he relaxed with his niece and her family, a gathering that incorporated all the cousins and friends and even random college students that had come from nearby Stanford.  Jack had already had to walk away from one room because Daniel had been holding court over the troubles with the American educational institute and how all students should be required to study abroad as well.  Jack had quietly crept out the door until he was in the back yard, watching the General again.   
  
They all deserved a chance to relax and it wasn’t often they got time away from the mountain lately.  Certainly not the time that allowed them to fly out of state for the weekend to catch up on anything personal.  He sighed as he watched the two young men walking towards the pool.  The taller of the two reminded him of Daniel; his need to learn and understand everything around him.  He was a geek all the way through.  They’d only met for a few minutes but Sam had mentioned linguistics and Daniel had looked ready to slobber on the kid.  His boyfriend had just rolled his eyes in a way that Jack himself knew all too well.  It tickled him a bit, though he’d never admit it, that this geek had found his hardened soldier to protect him as well.   
  
There was no doubt about that assessment either, as the older of the two,  Dean,  removed his shirt to slide into the water.  Jack had seen a lot of things over time, seen a lot of weapons and a lot of wounds, but torture left a certain mark on the body.  Whoever Dean was, he’d seen action somewhere.  He might not know a lot about the inner workings of Stanford minded college students, but Jack O’Neill knew his own kind.   
  
Dean looked up suddenly, as if he could sense Jack’s gaze.  When Dean caught his eye, Sam followed his gaze and moving instinctively closer.  Jack noted it all, keeping a tally in his head because something just wasn’t adding up with those two.  Jack knew the sight of someone who was used to giving back up.   
  
Daniel came up to his side then, looking at the two men, unintentionally mimicking Sam’s reaction and Jack couldn’t help the smile that curved his lips.  Sam relaxed in the pool and as he set his hand on Dean’s shoulder, the other man looked away.   Jack could see it in his body now though, could see the way he held himself at the ready.  He was wary now.   
  
“They’re probably not going to destroy the planet on your watch Jack.  You can stand down,” Daniel said, the smile evident in his voice.   
  
Jack looked over his shoulder.  “Need to talk to Hammond.  Not sure about your friend Sam there, but his boyfriend has seen combat.”  
  
Daniel frowned.  “He’s a bit young don’t you think?”   
  
He knew that Daniel was looking at Sam but he nodded just the same.  They were both trained, even if Dean was the only one with visible scars.   “Yep.  That’s what bothers me.”  
  
  
  
Jack stood with his back against the wall, thankful that the open window in the kitchen let him head the conversation without being seen.  He wasn’t sure what it was about Sam and Dean that set him off but his gut said they weren’t everything they said they were and that was a mystery that Jack couldn’t leave alone.  He’d been watching them since they arrived, Sam’s responses just a little too polite, Dean just a little too slick.  He was starting to think the was crazy after the pool incident because nothing else was setting off any bells, but then he’d seen Sam wincing when one of the kids had run into him.  Dean’s reaction was instant, pulling Sam away and secluding him.  Jack had moved quietly behind them on instinct and Daniel had followed.  
  
“Dean, honestly I’m fine.  It’s just a little sore.”  
  
“You shouldn’t still being feeling that Sammy.”   
  
“Yeah, well, it was the same spot I got hit the week before.”  
  
“Shit!  I thought that glowy eyed bastard got the other side.  You sure you’re okay?”  
  
“Yeah, I just need to work my shoulder a little more I think.  Thought a dip in the pool might be a good way to do it.”  
  
“Race ya?”  
  
Sam came running out of the back door, closely followed by Dean and neither noticed Jack and Daniel standing against the corner wall.  “Last one in has to do laundry!”  
  
As they ran off, unaware of their overheard conversation, Jack looked at Daniel who shook his head.  “It could be nothing Jack.”   
  
Daniel was frowning though, and Jack hated that.  It was true.  The conversation they’d heard around the corner could have been nothing but Jack had faith in a few things.  One of those was that if they got a weekend off to go to a nice relaxing barbeque, the universe would screw it up and the goa’uld would be a part of it.   
  
“Sure.  It could be nothing,” Jack said with a sharp nod of his head.  “It could be nothing that the General’s niece makes friends with two guys who have quiet conversations about glowing eyed bastards.  Did I mention the way they move with military precision?  Or that one had more battle scars than most men on the mountain?  Still think I’m paranoid?”  
  
Daniel sighed as he gave a quick nod.  “Yeah Jack, I do.”  
  
“Well you know what they say, Danny-boy.  Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me.”  
  
It only took a minute for Jack to get the General alone for a minute and he filled him in on the conversation and Jack’s discrete observations.  Daniel stood beside them, looking skeptical and uncertain, but then again that was pretty much the definition of his job when Jack thought about it.  Jack made a military decision, and Daniel hemmed and hawed until he found something better.  Or tried, because when it came to military matters even Daniel admitted Jack knew what he was doing.   
  
“You really think these kids are a risk?”  
  
“I don’t know sir, but I feel like we should check them out.  If they know something about the goa’uld we need to know why.”  
  
Hammond didn’t look happy.  He seemed to be thinking it over and Jack understood that.  There could be any number of reasons why Dean would be scarred the way he was.  Familiarity could sometimes give the appearance of precision movement that Dean and Sam had displayed, but Jack blew that one out of his mind as he thought it.  Not only did they move well together, there was a formation to it.  Dean was the point and Sam had his back.  He could see it in how Dean looked for the exits when he walked in and how Sam spoke for them both as he did so.  He saw it in a dozen small interactions they had since they’d arrived.   
  
“Maybe they are innocent General,” Daniel piped in.  “But it wouldn’t take long to do a little research on them.  I’d really feel better knowing there was nothing funny going on around your family.”  
  
Jack could have kissed him, minus the whole don’t ask don’t tell thing, for bringing up that particular argument.  Hammond nodded his head but he knew that Daniel just got him the go ahead.  If it were Jack, he’d be looking all smug, but it wasn’t and Daniel genuinely looked worried about Hammond’s family.   
  
He took his leave of the General and pulled Daniel to the side.  “You can probably get Sam to talk better than I’ll get Dean to.  Wanna give him a try?”  
  
“Think he’s going to admit to anything devious at a pool party Jack?”   
  
“Just get his cover story Daniel.  Get something for me to check into.”  
  
Daniel snorted in amusement.  “Yes sir, Colonel O’Neill sir.”  
  
Jack looked up at the sky, hands raised and eyes lifted.  “Why God, why can’t you make him do that on missions?  Just once, come on?”  


 

 

 

 

  


 

  
Sam smiled as he watched the pool.  Dean was splashing in the water, two of Jessica’s younger cousins on his back, with a huge smile on his face.  Jessica sat to the side and he watched as she splashed Dean.  His brother took a deep breath and dove under, the young girls on his back jumping off as Dean went down.  Jessica didn’t have a chance.  When Dean emerged at her side he came shooting out of the water, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her in with him. 

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Dean laugh so much.  His fingers itched to touch Dean’s lips, to memorize the feel of them with such a joyful expression.  He wanted to run his fingers through wet hair and wet his tongue on the paths of the water droplets as they ran down Dean’s neck. 

“So, Jessica said you’re pre-law?”

Sam looked away from his brother, closing his eyes for a second before looking up at Daniel Jackson with a small smile.  He’d talked to the other man for a few minutes earlier and liked him instantly.  He had an open smile and a passionate take on the world.  He felt like someone Sam would like to know, if he wasn’t part of  the military of course. 

“That’s the idea.  Or it was.  I’m not so sure now,” he admitted.   A lot of his friends thought he was just getting cold feet about going to law school, but Sam knew it was more than that.  Dean coming back into his life the way he had, it made Sam really look at what he was doing.  And why he was doing it.  “I’ve got a lot of interests and… pre-law doesn’t seem to have the appeal it once did.”

“It’s probably a good time to rethink what you’re doing then.”  Daniel said with an understanding smile.  “Law school is a tough commitment.” 

Sam nodded, not sure what else to say to that.  If he were honest with himself he’d always hoped, in some small measure, that law school would help him get back to his father.  It was silly, he knew, but he’d figured it gave him three shots at his dad.  The first, and most likely, was that his father would go ape-shit over his son being in any way connected to law enforcement and would come to take him away.  Sam wouldn’t leave school, but he’d do the conversation right the second time and make his dad understand.   The second, and least likely, was that his father would be proud of him and come to see tell him that.  The third was that his father, at some point, would need a lawyer and Sam would be there to help him out.  In all three cases, he’d get another chance to talk to his dad.  None of it would work of course.  He’d never got a chance to apologize for the angry words he’d hurled at him the night of their fight.  Dean wanted him to believe Dad wanted that chance also, but he’d never find out.

“So, what else are you thinking about?”  Daniel prodded him out of his thoughts. 

“Anthropology or linguistics, maybe religious studies.    I have a certain fascination with the occult and archaic religions.”

“Really?  If you’re interested in talking to someone about it you can always call me.”  Daniel said.  “Linguistics is my area of study actually.”

Sam smiled because there it was again, that feeling that Daniel was honest and trustworthy, someone he could really talk to.  The other man didn’t offer falsely and it made Sam warm up to him a little more.  “I might take you up on that.  Not too many people get into that in my circle of friends.”

“What about Dean?”

“Dean?”  Sam looked over at Dean and couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips as Jessica slid an arm around his shoulder, whispered something in his ear, then pushed all her weight on top of him to dunk him under.  “Well ... Dean has an interest in a lot of things, but higher education isn’t one of them.  He’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, but he just doesn’t care about it.  He knows a lot though, about the occult and that sort of thing.  A similar passion actually.”

“You seem pretty different from one another.  I guess that’s what drew you together?”

Sam wasn’t sure how to answer that one.  They had new lives here.  Once Dean decided to settle they set him up with a new identity because he refused to let anything from his past bog Sam down at school.  Sam hated having to hide who Dean was, but it made it easier with their relationship now.  He had enough things in his life he hid because they were shameful to him.  He didn’t want Dean to think he was part of that category.

He tried to answer as honest as he could though because he liked Daniel.  If the man hadn’t been part of the military he could see really trying to get to know him.  If he wasn’t partners with a man that was watching Dean like he might need to take a hunk out of him later. 

“Dean and I grew up together.  I was the geek and he was the bad boy and for some reason he took a liking to me,” Sam said.  It was true even if he left out the brother part.  Dean had never turned him away in school or anywhere else, unlike some of the other kids he know whose siblings wouldn’t acknowledge them in public.  He never had to worry about Dean’s good opinion or affection.  He’d always had those.  “He always managed to show up and save my neck.  My Dad sort of took him in, you know?  When Dad died, Dean came here to keep me in line I guess,” he managed to say with only a sad smile. 

It was still too soon to talk about it, too soon to remember the grief in his brother’s eyes when he’d shown up on Sam’s doorstep, bleeding and broken, unable to do much more than stumble through the door.  He didn’t know what sort of will had kept his brother going but it was obvious once he was with Sam it had left him.  He’d patched his brother up, grateful he didn’t have any roommates to ask questions.  When it was all done and Dean was lying on the bed, painkillers beginning to take effect, he’d confessed it all. 

Dad was dead.  He’d found a lead on the demon that had killed Mary.  After all those years, it was beginning to resurface.  The demon did his best to gut Dean in front of their father, had taken pretty good hunks out of their dad as well before they were able to exorcise it.  Dad had thrown Dean into the back seat but the demon wasn’t quite done with them.  He’d taken over another body and drove a semi into the truck. 

Dean had walked away from it, bleeding and bruised but none the less alive.  John Winchester never stirred again.  Dean had stumbled out, found his way to the Impala and drove the 670 miles from Boise to Palo Alto to make sure Sam was still safe.

“Seems more like you would keep him in line,” Daniel commented with a knowing smile.

Sam laughed.  “Yeah, I guess it might look like that.  Dean might like to party, but he’s a good person.  He just needs to be reminded of that from time to time.” 

“I know a few people like that,” Daniel said with a smile, his eyes trailing over to where Jack sat.  “So you go to school and Dean does what?”

“A couple jobs.  He works at a garage downtown and does some courier work.  I think he does the last one just to stay out of my hair.  Well, that and to put some more miles on his car.”

“You know, I don’t think I caught your last name before?  Jess didn’t mention them.”

Sam smiled because Daniel really had to be the worst interrogator in the history of the military.  He just asked straight forward and didn’t shy away from it.  It was sort of refreshing, except that Sam could still see Jack at the other side of the yard, watching Dean in the pool.  “Winchester.  Sam Winchester and Dean Antilles.  And yours?”

“Daniel Jackson.”

“And your … friend?”

Daniel frowned at him and Sam wondered if there was supposed to be some sort of secret about the way the two men acted towards one another.  Oh right.  Don’t ask don’t tell.  Wasn’t that a joke?

“You mean Jack?  He’s my colonel.”  Sam smiled at that and Daniel seemed to realize how that sounded.  “I mean, he’s the colonel at the base I work out of.  Jack O’Neill.”

“I thought you were a linguist?  What exactly do you do with the military?” 

“I have a PhD in Archeology, Anthropology, and Philology, all extremely useful and relevant areas of study.  Are you thinking of pursuing them here at Stanford?”

Sam nodded, letting himself be pulled away from the questions.  “Possibly.  I came here because of the law school, but it’s just something I’ve been turning over in my head lately.  I haven’t looked too much into it yet.”  Daniel didn’t seem to be aware that he’d given their names out, or maybe he didn’t know how much someone with Sam’s hacker skills could get from it.  Sam didn’t feel bad in the slightest.  He was sure that Jack O’Neill would be looking into their cover story.  He might as well see what he could find out about Jack and Daniel in turn. 

 

 

Dean dropped the towel next to their shoes and decided it was time to take the more direct route to all of this.  Sam was sitting with Daniel Jackson and from Sam’s smiles and the occasional glance at Dean or Jack, he had a fair idea of what was happening.  Dean had always preferred action.  Let the geek boys talk it out.  Though, he did take a few minutes to admire the view.  There were few geeks built as well as Sam.  While Daniel had a tone body and warm, expressive eyes, he didn’t hold a candle to Sam.

Sam was sitting in the grass, legs stretched out in front of him a mile long, his weight resting back on his hands as he listened to Daniel talking.  There was an amused smile on Sam’s face and his shoulders were more relaxed than Dean had seen them since Sam had turned sixteen. 

It was good to see him so relaxed, away from his studies and homework and hunting and all the other pain that he’d suffered in his life.  Dean smiled as he watched for one more minute, vowing to himself to make sure Sam got out more like this, then turned back to his intended target.     

Dean walked to the cooler and grabbed two beers, taking them over to the picnic table and handing one to Jack O’Neill who sat there alone, straddling one of the benches at the table.  “You looked like you could use one,” he said as Jack took it.  He sat in the seat opposite him and took a long drink.

“Thanks,” Jack said, giving him a small smile. 

“Anytime, especially from someone else’s cooler.”  Dean answered back.  “You know the family?”

 “Friend of the General.”

“George, right?” Dean asked, remembering the way Jessica had curled up into the man’s lap and smiled, introducing them to ‘Uncle George’.  “Hard to remember names around here.”

“Most people remember meeting General Hammond, no matter what name you call him.    He’s not the sort of person you forget.”

Dean smirked.  “You can say that again.  Glad I’m not trying to make an impression and win the fair Jess’s hand.”

Jack let out a snort at that.  “Much safer not to be.”

Dean looked over at Sam, thought about what Sam might do to him if he even acted like he was interested in his brother’s ex.  “You got that right.”  He took another swig of his beer.  “I thought Jessica said her uncle lived in Colorado.  You in town for long?”

“Just a short stay.”  Jack said.  “Unless we find something we need to stick around for.”

Dean’s lips turned up in a smile that was almost a dare.  “Is that some kind of warning?”

“Just a fact.”  Jack took a drink of his beer, then nodded to Daniel and Sam.  “How long do you think they could sit there, talking geek?”

“If Daniel is anything like Sam, we might never see them again.”    

“Where’d you serve?”

“Excuse me?” Dean was taken back by the question but he did his best to keep it from showing on his face. 

“Military service.”

Dean shook his head.  “I’m not exactly the tell-me-what-to-do type.”

“Really?”

Dean’s eyes hardened as he looked at the other man.  “I got no trouble with military types, but it’s not me.  Don’t need anyone to tell me who my enemies are.  I don’t need someone to tell me where to point a gun.”

“But you know how to pull the trigger dontcha Dean?”

“Hey Dean,” Sam’s hand landed on his shoulder as he stepped up, his chest pressing to Dean’s back.  “you ready to head out?”

Dean looked away from Jack and found Daniel hovering close to Jack.  He smiled at Sam then back over at the soldier.  “Well, this has been real fun.  If you decide to stick around we should do it again sometime.” 

Sam wasn’t happy with him, he could see it, but he was holding his tongue for now.  Sam wanted them gone and Dean couldn’t argue with that.  He wasn’t sure why he’d started to lose his temper with Jack but something about the man’s attitude bothered him.  Like he was sizing them up and thought he knew all about them from a few minutes conversation. 

Jack smiled back at him.  “Sure thing Dean.  Nice to know we have some friends in town.”

Dean turned to walk away, saw Sam exchange curious glances with Daniel before he made it to his brother’s side. 

“Wanna tell me what that was Dean?”

“Just say good-bye to Jess and I’ll tell you at home.”

 

 

 

  
“Jack?”

“Yeah Daniel?”

“Care to fill me in?”  Jack took a long drink and watched Daniel as he took the vacated seat opposite him.  “I was trying to get some information out of Sam and suddenly he got up and practically ran over here.”

“So he knew he was interrupting?” Jack already knew the answer, but Daniel had a way with people that made them want to confide, to reach out like he was a long lost best friend.  Sometimes, he took the edge off Jack’s sharper fears, the professional paranoia that leaked into his judgment when they were away from the Stargate and helped him see that people weren’t always covering for the worst.  Sometimes though, Daniel just proved him right. 

“Yeah.”

“We need to figure these boys out Daniel.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing, but I think Dean was about to say something he shouldn’t and Sam’s smart enough to know the signs.  Dean trusts him enough to accept his judgment on it.”

“We do that all the time Jack.”

“Yeah Daniel, but how many years have we been working in the field together, where life and death balanced on that trust?”

Daniel sighed.  “Too many.”

“Yeah, the thing is Danny; something tells me it’s the same with those two.  We need to figure out what they know about the goa’uld, and whose side they’re on.”

 

 

  
  
 

  
Dean was as good as his word.  When they got home he went straight into the apartment and sat at the kitchen table, waiting for Sam.

“Soooo…”  Sam drew the word out as he sat across from Dean.  Dean quickly relayed his conversation with Jack and then listened in turn as Sam filled him in about his talk with Daniel.

“Well, let’s hope the fake identity Bobby got me holds muster.  It’s about to be tested.”

“Bobby said the guy who did it was some computer genius.  He wouldn’t steer us wrong.”

“Yeah, I know,” Dean said with a disgusted sign.  “That guy just got under my skin Sam.  I don’t know why he bothered me so much.”

“From the looks of it, you were getting under his too.  What do you think he wants?”

“I don’t know.  Daniel’s digging into you and trying to get more information about me and then Jack’s questions about the military?  I just don’t know.  I mean… they’ll run the paperwork and nothing will seem strange, but you can’t change what they’ve seen.”

“You think it’s about your scars?”  Sam’s concern was barely hidden under his doubt. 

“There’s a reason I don’t do shorts dude,” he knew he’d said the right thing when Sam smiled at him. 

“I thought it was because you were shy.”

“Shy?”  Dean asked, a slight smile on his lips as Sam stood up, pulling his tee shirt off and dropping it to the floor as he straddled Dean’s lap. 

“Yeah, shy.” 

Dean let his hands fall to Sam’s hips, taking a deep breath as he drank in the sight of the man on his lap.  He’d always known Sam was good looking but it wasn’t until he’d come to Stanford after their dad’s death that Sam had affected him like that.  Being called Sam’s boyfriend wasn’t hard to adjust to because it was public but because he’d never had those sorts of feelings for Sam before.  He’d woken from his injuries and been surprised, and attracted, to the calm, confident man his brother had become.  He’d bared had time to accept those feelings when Sam had pushed him against a wall and turned his life on edge, giving him a place to call home, a reason to stay when in all honesty, he’d never wanted to leave.   

“I practically had to tie you to a bed to get you undressed that first time.”  Sam continued as he leaned down, biting playfully at Dean’s earlobe.

“Jesus Sammy.”

“You have any idea how much I wanted to wrap myself around you in the pool Dean?  Seeing you show your body off like that to all those people?  Wanted to show them just where you belong.”

Dean looked up at him, brought his hands up to Sam’s face, rubbing the pad of his thumb over Sam’s bottom lip.  “Just where do I belong?”

Sam smiled as he brought his lips within a breath of Dean’s.  “Inside of me.

He brushed his lips over Dean’s, and then licked at the seams until he opened up to him.  Dean kept one hand on Sam’s face, the other shifting to Sam’s back, pulling him closer.  Sam’s hands found the hem of his shirt and he pulled it off, breaking the kiss and standing as he did so. 

He dropped Dean’s shirt, then turned to walk out, his hands working his belt as he did so.  It dropped to the floor in the middle of the living room and as Sam made his way down the hall, his jeans followed it.

When he reached his bedroom door, Sam looked back over at Dean and smiled.  “Anytime now Dean.”

“Nothing subtle about you Sammy.” 

Sam entered the bedroom and Dean grabbed each dropped item and took it with him.  When he got to the room, Sam was stretched out on the bed, lubricant sitting on the bedside table.  He was lying back on the pillow, one hand lazily stroking his cock. 

Dean dropped the clothes and let his own fall away as well, Sam watching closely as he slid the jeans down over his hips.  Dean crawled up the bed to his waiting lover and captured his mouth in a kiss.  Sam’s hands pulled him close, his hips thrusting slow and sweet into Dean as he bit softly at Sam’s lip.

“Dean, please…”

“Yeah Sam.  Know what you need.”  He reached for the bottle and had his fingers slicked up quickly, pressing one finger inside him as he kissed a path down his neck, stopping to lick and bite at Sam’s collarbone.  He added a second finger when Sam started thrusting back into his hand, knowing that Sam was ready for more.  He continued to open him as he kissed his way down Sam’s body, licking at his nipples and biting a path to his hipbone.  As Dean licked the head of Sam’s cock, he pressed three fingers in, the same slow steady rhythm Sam had started.   

Sam’s hips arched off the bed and Dean swallowed him down, letting Sam fuck into his mouth as he continued to stretch him. 

“Dean, oh God now,” It didn’t take long for Sam to start begging and the last think Dean wanted right then was to make Sam wait for it. 

He pulled his fingers free and slicked himself up with the efficiency of the well practiced.  They might have taken a long time to figure out where they belonged, but once they did it had been all or nothing, no going slow and no holding back.  He pushed into Sam’s body, sliding all the way home in one long, slow glide.  He didn’t even try to suppress the moan that was building at the feel of Sam’s body wrapping warm and tight around him. 

When Sam’s feet hooked around his thighs and tried to pull him in closer, and he didn’t need words to know that Sam was ready for him to move.  They hadn’t been lovers all that long, but they’d been reading each other’s body language their whole lives and it translated as easily into sex as it had everything else.  He set an easy pace with Sam’s hips snapping up to meet Dean’s. 

He could feel the tremble of his lover’s body when he was reaching the edge, knew it was too late to stop when Sam’s hands grabbed him, nails digging into his shoulders with white knuckled intensity, pushing Dean closer and closer to his own orgasm. 

He didn’t fight the building pressure that was riding on Sam’s pleasure.  He leaned forward, kissing Sam who groaned into his mouth.

  “Fuck Dean... please…” he whimpered into his lips.  “God please Dean… need to come… please… gotta…” and Dean could lose it just from the things Sam said to him when their lips were apart and the rest of their bodies were joined. 

He felt it then, felt Sam’s body clamp around him and the hot splash of come between them.  His own orgasm rode Sam’s, his hips slamming into Sam, as he pushed them both further over the edge.

He could barely breathe as Sam floated kisses over his face and neck, his hands soothing where his fingers had bitten into flesh.  He pulled out with a soft groan from Sam and rolled onto the bed beside him, felt his brother moving around until something soft was wiping across his stomach and down to his cock cleaning him up before he settled back onto the bed.  Sam pulled him back into his chest and Dean rested in the sweat-slicked hollow of his brother’s arms.

It was still early in the evening, but Dean didn’t fight the closing of his eyes.  He heard Sam’s breathing even out behind him and knew that he wasn’t the only one that wanted a nap.  He turned over and Sam dropped onto his back.  When Dean moved closer, putting his head on Sam’s chest and relaxed, Sam was already asleep.  Dean followed not long after.

 

 

 

 

 

“Where the hell are we?”

Daniel sighed as he looked out the window.  It was the fifth time Jack had asked that since the hour.  It was only a quarter after.  It was the fourth hour of the trip.  He didn’t have to be a genius to know the question had been asked way too often. 

“I don’t want to hear it Jack.  I could be sleeping right now.  I could be enjoying a really good book and a wonderfully exotic blend of coffee.  I could be working on the backlog of translations that are piling up on my desk, but you decided that two college boys needed looking into so here we are, the back hills of nowhere and I swear I will strangle you if you ask where we are one more time.”

Jack didn’t look over at him, but there was a smile pulling at the corner of his lips and Daniel knew then that Jack had been baiting him with the question the entire four hours. 

“You were the one that convinced Hammond the kids needed to be checked out.”

“No, I backed you up on a hunch.  That was all.”

“And why was that?”

“Jack…”

“Come on Daniel, if you don’t believe in my hunches why did you back me up?”

“You know why Jack,” he snapped.  “Of course I believe in your hunches.  Just because I don’t want to over inflate your already over inflated ego doesn’t mean I don’t trust you.”

Jack beamed over at him.  “Awe Danny.  I didn’t know you cared.”

 

 

  
  
 

  
“So, the article said in the last six weeks three bodies have been found on the shore in the Silverwood Lake State Recreational Area and there have been a couple more disappearances in the last two weeks.  When I started digging I found out that one of the trails was recently closed due to mud slides and there was some rebuilding and walling done to stop it.  I don’t know, maybe it’s a spirit that got disturbed by the walling?  I don’t think we’ll know what we’re dealing with until we get a look at the bodies.”

“What about the police reports?”  Dean asked as they drove.

“All three bodies were found drowned.”

“What makes you think this is our kind of thing again?”  Dean asked with a sigh.

“The fact that all three of the victims were known to be accomplished swimmers, two of them found together.  They’re keeping the disappearances low key, but some of the locals have been talking to the paper about an old ghost story about a woman in the water who kills the ungrateful.”

“The ungrateful?”

Sam laughed.  “Just reporting what it says Dean.”

“We know anything that fits the circumstances?”

“How many can you name off the top of your head Dean.”

Dean thought for a second.  “Seven.”

“Damn.”

“How many?”

“Five.”

“That is because I’m awesome Sammy.” 

Sam stuck his tongue out and barely managed to duck before Dean’s hand could smack him in the back of the head.  “I need some food Dean.  Seriously, five hours on the road, you have got to let me stretch my legs man.”

“Only another hour, maybe two Sam.  We’ll hit the next gas station but I want to get there tonight and hole up before we stop  for too long.”

“Alright, just give me 15 and I’ll be good for another haul.”

Dean smiled at him and Sam smiled back.  This was the hunt as he wished it had always been, just him and Dean without the pressure of their father added onto the already heavy pressure of their lifestyle.  As much as he loved his father and wanted his approval, he knew he couldn’t live with the man the way Dean had.  Their every conversation had been laced with confrontation and there had been no end in sight.   He felt guilty about the thought immediately but he didn’t try to lie to himself that he didn’t mean it. 

It just felt good to be on the road with Dean.  It was Spring Break and they had a hunt.  Sam was getting a little bit ahead of his reading as they drove, too many years of learning on the road seemed to make it instinctual to pick up a book anytime he was in the car for more than fifteen minutes.  Once they took care of this hunt, it would just be the two of them, relaxing and kicking back.  He just hoped the case was quick and easy so they could get on with the fun.

 

 

The room was like any other in a long line of shit holes they’d lived in throughout their lives.  Dean hated them just as much as Sam did, but he complained less.  Their father had tried, in the beginning, to go to better places, to stay in rented houses or apartment or anything that might feel more like home, but the closer to home they felt the worse Dean dealt with the loss of his mother.  The last time they’d stayed in a nice place Dean had been 7 and for the entire three months their father had been trying to finish the hunt Dean had been silent.  The only words he’d spoken were to Sam and only then saying his name.  Dean sometimes wondered if that was why he and Sam could read each other so well, those periods of non-verbal communication when Sam had been young enough to be in tune with him. 

Dean’s bags were thrown on the first bed and Sam was typing away at the keyboard as Dean came in with dinner.  “Got you some egg rolls.”  He said, trying to get Sam to look up from the keyboard long enough to get his attention.  Considering they hadn’t had anything to eat since the diner at lunch, he figured it was his best bet.  As much as Dean liked the hunt, Sam could be almost obsessive about it sometimes.  It reminded him too much of their dad and since his death Dean had purposely learned how to break Sam from his focus. 

“Sounds good.”    Sam said, looking up finally.  He closed his laptop and left it on the bed.  He stretched a moment and Dean couldn’t help but watch for the strip of skin as his shirt pulled up.  He looked up at Sam and his brother’s smile was brilliant.  He’d been caught staring but considering some of the things they’d been doing, he didn’t think that was something he should be all that worried about anymore.

“See something you like?”  Sam asked.

Dean wasn’t about to be baited into anything right then though; food, hunt, sex.  Those were his priorities for the night and in that order.  “Yeah, beef and broccoli.  Get your Sasquatch ass over here and eat.  I want to see what you were able to pull up about this hunt before bed.”

Sam came up behind Dean as he was pulling the take out cartons from the bag.  “About bed….”  His voice was warm and wet against the back of Dean’s neck. 

Sam knew it was a sensitive spot for him, knew it and liked to play on it, but even as Dean closed his eyes he was shaking his head.

“After the hunt Sammy.”  His voice was lower than usual, the stab of longing bringing out the gravel in his words.  “Get through that first and I’ll give you anything you want.”

“Anything?”

He could hear the smirk in Sam’s voice.  “Outside of the Impala and my soul in servitude, anything.”

Sam slid out from behind him and into the chair across from him as he grabbed for a carton of rice.  “Interesting how the Impala came first.”

“My soul verses the Impala?  My baby wins every time.” 

Sam smiled at him, something secretive and affectionate and it made Dean’s blood warm.  They really needed to get to bed soon.  He wanted to be rested after all.  For the hunt.  Yeah.  That’s all he wanted to be in bed for.

Sam laughed aloud and Dean joined him, both of them knowing they’d be through the websites in a hurry because honestly, there were better things to do than rehash old legends when you had a warm, willing, and completely fuckable brother next to you.

 

 

“Jack, is there any reason to think they’re going anywhere else tonight?”

Daniel heard Jack’s sigh and knew he was rolling his eyes as well.  He closed his laptop and dropped his glasses on top of it as he stood and stretched.  Jack was still starring through the blinds of the decrepit motel window across the courtyard to the other men’s room.  Daniel walked up behind Jack, stopping just a breath away.

“They’re not going anywhere Jack and I’m too tired to do any more translations.” 

Jack turned his head slightly, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned.  “You’re getting old Daniel.  I remember a time when I had to drag you away from your translations to make you go to bed.”

It was as much of an opening as he needed, enough encouragement that Jack wasn’t taking this as serious as their off-world work.  Well, perhaps not less serious, but the consequences of their actions were known here and they had both accepted them.  As much as he sometimes wanted to pull Jack closer to him when they were off world at an amazing find, or when he’d sealed a negotiation that he’d been working on for weeks, there wasn’t normally a polite way to find out how off-world communities felt about homosexuality.  They kept their relationship strictly business off planet for that reason more than anything else.    As much as Jack was doing the job right now, this wasn’t off world and they knew what they could get away with.  Daniel closed the distance between them, his lips brushing across the soft nape of Jack’s neck, his fingers curling around Jack’s hips, pulling him slightly back.

“You changed your tactics.” Daniel whispered.  “I don’t like sleeping alone.  When you stopped dragging me from my desk to sleep and started pulling me into bed with you I became much less resistant to the idea.”

“Less resistant?”

“I became an interested party.”

“Interested?”

“I became an active participant?”

Jack turned around then, his eyes glinting with mischief.  “I don’t know Danny.”  His voice was husky as he took another step closer.  “If that’s how you feel about it, I guess you must not want it.” 

Daniel felt the back of his knees hit the bed and he sat down hard.  His hands reached for Jack’s belt and the other man didn’t stop him.  He saw the look in Jack’s eyes though, hard and dark and something else that made him shiver.  Jack had it in him to be a number of things, soft and warm, caring, cool and hard and sometimes even cruel, something Daniel had learned over the years.  Considering the terrain they had crossed, with work and on the personal level, it wasn’t surprising to see it in his eyes sometimes. 

Tonight Jack’s eyes told him he’d give Daniel exactly what he wanted, to be left panting and gasping for breath and begging Jack for anything, just anything he could get. Daniel didn’t hesitate to strip Jack’s pants off.  He felt Jack removing his tee shirt so that he stood naked in front of him.  Daniel ran his hands up Jack’s thighs, letting them rest against his hips and he leaned in, lips following a trail that he had long ago blazed. 

He brought one hand down, sliding it between Jack’s legs to gently finger his balls.  Jack groaned at the touch and Daniel smiled as he rolled them in his hand a minute before letting his fingers move higher.  He took Jack’s cock in a loose grip, teasing and light while he kissed his way across Jack’s stomach and hips.  When Jack began thrusting his hips into Daniel’s hand, he tightened his grip and leaned down, licking lightly at the head of his cock. 

“Jesus, Danny…” Jack said above him, one hand curling in his hair.  Daniel smiled, knowing Jack was fighting the urge to thrust into his mouth.

Daniel opened up then, opened his throat and took Jack in, his tongue working circles and long strokes as he pulled back and then sank down onto his cock.  He sucked and licked at Jack as his other hand continued to move, pulling at Jack’s hips, playing with his balls, just moving over flesh that was hardened by battle. 

He felt Jack’s legs tremble, felt the coming release and he pulled Jack further into his mouth until it hit.  Both hands wrapped in his hair as the orgasm hit and Daniel continued sucking him down, milking him through it all.

When Jack pulled his head away, Daniel looked up to see eyes blown dark with lust and a faint smile on his lips.  Jack pushed him back onto the bed and straddled his hips as he leaned over him, kissing him hard and fast, his tongue plunging in and ransacking Daniel’s mouth.

He let his forehead rest against Daniel’s for a second before he kissed him lightly.  “If you think that got you out of trouble, you’re sadly mistaken Danny-boy.”

The hard glint in his eyes was back and Daniel shivered in anticipation.     

 

 

Dean stared at the road before them, trying to keep his concentration from slipping too much.  It was after midnight and the grave they were headed for was out on a back roads cemetery.  It used to belong to the family but there was nothing out there now.  No one took care of it anymore or the roads that led to it.  They were surprisingly good considering, but every so often, just when he felt his attention wavering, a pot hole would appear.  Sam grumbled every time Dean had to jerk the car around another pit but there were no lights and it wasn’t like he was doing it on purpose.   Well, maybe that one time when it looked like Sam was about to fall asleep, but that was only a little one. 

When the car lights fell on the decrepit iron fence, Dean saw the other street crossing past it.

“Perfect.”  Sam sighed from the passenger side. 

“Would have been nice to know it was at a cross roads.”

“Shouldn’t change anything, right?”

They were both hesitant though, knowing cross roads weren’t really the place to take chances.  They got out of the car and Dean pulled out the shovels and accelerant.  He stood still for a minute, thinking he’d seen lights in the road behind them but when nothing else came he decided he was just being paranoid.  He handed the shovel and accelerant to Sam and set a circle around the car with salt.  Sam watched him for a minute with a curious expression.

“Maybe its just paranoia, but I’d rather be safe and paranoid than just plain dead.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Sam said with a small smile. 

It didn’t take long before they were winding their way through the grave markers, some of them little better than half crumbled headstones and wooden crosses that were too weathered to read. 

It was twenty minutes before Sam called out to him.  “Think this one might be it Dean,” he said, rubbing at the chiseled stone lightly.  “The last name is right and so is the birth date.” 

“Can’t read the rest of it to make sure.  Guess we’ll find out the old fashioned way,” he said, handing a shovel to Sam.  “We dig.”

The grave seemed deeper than normal but Dean knew it was just his impatience.  He just wanted to get this over with and get back to the motel.  Something felt off tonight and the quicker they were done with it all the quicker he could have Sam back to the motel where it was safe.  Or, he amended the thought, as safe as their lives ever got. 

He looked up from the grave as he heard the smash of shovel on coffin and smiled at Sam.  “About time,” he said, exasperation coloring his voice as he shook of his head.  Sam raised his shovel high and smashed it down again, this time breaking through. 

“Interesting pastime.” 

Dean looked up to see two men walking into the cemetery.  One held a gun, steady and sure on them while the other seemed to be looking everywhere at once, face turning side to side too quick to be taking much in. He knew who it was, recognized the voice and looked at Sam in exasperation.  “Just once I’d like something to go smooth.”

“Why don’t you boys come on out of the grave and explain what you’re doing here?”

“Look, I know this isn’t …” Sam sighed as he got out of the grave.  Enough of the body was exposed that they could salt and burn her now but that was only if the gun pointed at them decided to go away.   “It’s hard to explain.”

Jack O’Neill was pointing his gun at Sam and there was nothing that pissed Dean off more than that, especially when it came from a human getting in their way in the middle of a hunt.

“Why don’t you put the gun away Jack.”  Dean said, wondering why the hell Jack and Daniel were following them.  He knew they’d run his identity, but he didn’t figure they’d stalk them.  They were damn good at it too if they’d managed to follow them since the party without Dean or Sam catching wind of it.  “Just a couple of friends hanging out on a Friday night, right?”

“Sure.  Sorry we forgot to bring our shovels.”  Jack looked away from Sam for a moment and nodded to Dean.  “Why don’t you just step out of the grave now?”

Dean sighed, but he needed to get out of it anyway so he could salt and burn it.  “I’m coming out,” Dean said, telegraphing him movements.  He didn’t think Jack was the nervous type and he might be willing to play his hunch on that, but not with Sam at the receiving end of it.

“Jack?”

“Yeah Daniel?”

“I think something’s moving over there…”

Jack didn’t look but the brothers did.  He could see something starting to happen on the other side of the cemetery but it wasn’t formed clear enough yet to see.  The last thing Dean wanted to do was wait for it to get that far. 

“You need to let us take care of this.” Sam said, his voice coming out strong and clear and Dean wanted to kiss him for it, considering the trouble they might be looking at.

“Yeah sure.  Just let you get on with your grave robbing.  Please tell me its grave robbing and not anything else.”

“That’s sick Jack.”  Dean said with a shake of his head just as Sam stammered out “Dean and I … we’re hunters.”

He didn’t get any further though when a man stepped into the clearing.  “Well, if it isn’t the Winchester boys.” 

Jack turned the gun on the newcomer but before they could do anything Jack was thrown against the nearest tree.  “Jack!”  Daniel screamed, pulling a gun from out of nowhere.  He ended up on the tree next to him. 

“Nice to see you boys again.  Your Daddy says hi.” 

“Son of a bitch!”  Dean’s gun fired off two shots before he felt something hit him across the chest, knocking him to the ground.  His shotgun went flying over to where Jack had fallen.  The other man was starting to move already, but Daniel seemed to be out for the count.  Dean could only hope he’d wake later.     

“What do you want?”  Sam’s voice was just as calm as it had been when Jack had the gun pointed at him. 

Dean felt a surge of pride at the way his brother stood tall against one of Hell’s ilk but nothing could override the need to be at Sam’s side, to be between Sam and whatever might hurt him. 

“Well … well … well, Sammy Winchester.  If someone had told me you were going to turn into such a fine young man when you were a baby, I don’t think I’d have believed them.”

“What do you want?”  Sam repeated, his jaw clenched as tightly as his fists.

“Just checking on the prodigal son,” the demon said, eyes flashing a yellow that made Dean’s head spin. 

He knew what it was, knew from the words that were mumbled when his father had relived their mother’s death in his dreams.  He knew from the almost fevered writings his father had left behind in his journal about the demon that had killed Mary Winchester. 

“You still don’t know, do you?” The demon asked Sam as he stepped closer.

“Know what?”

“Guess Daddy died before he got to tell you the whole truth.”  The demon continued on until he was standing close enough to touch. 

Sam started to back away, but Dean could see the moment he hit the invisible wall that Dean was struggling against.  His muscles strained to take another step, to put more distance between himself and the demon, but nothing happened.  The demon watched Sam’s struggles with amusement but he didn’t touch, though Dean was sure Sam could feel his breath against his skin. 

“You’re mine Sammy.  The blood that runs through your veins, it’s tainted with mine.  Fed it to you myself when you were just a babe.  You screamed, hated it when I was in the room, but the one thing I’ve learned with this little experiment over the years, is that the ones that cry the hardest are the ones that fall the hardest.  And look at you now; using those visions I gave you to hunt down ghosts and demons.”

Sam didn’t struggle when the demon finally closed the distance between them, fingers caressing his cheek.  “I’m surprised you didn’t put two and two together Sam.  After meeting Max and finding out about his little secret? I bet you didn’t want to believe it so much that you didn’t even allow yourself to think it.”  The demon pulled Sam’s head down so that he could lean in, his lips brushing Sam’s ears even as he stared at Dean.  “Do you think Dean knew Sammy?”  He asked.  “Do you think your big brother knew you were one of the monsters he’d have to kill?”

Dean wanted to blurt out that Sam knew demons lied, but he wasn’t sure his voice wouldn’t give away the burning fear in his gut.  He’d known, God help him, he’d understood the connection between Sam and Max Miller once he’d done a little research and used the pages he’d ripped from their father’s journal.  Pages he never intended his brother to see.

“What do you say Dean?  Should I put your brother out of his misery?  Or should I put you out of yours?  Do you think you could do it, put a bullet through his head and burn the body so he’d never rise again?  Or would you let him continue to walk the earth, a creature of my making, demon blood corrupting every step?”

“Guess you’ll never know ya son of a bitch!”  Jack threw the words out as he pulled the trigger.

The shotgun roared to life and the salt riddled the body the demon had stolen.  He didn’t fall straight away, but his mouth opened, vomiting the foul spirit with its final breath. 

Dean heard Daniel moan at Jack’s side and he felt a little lighter knowing the other man wasn’t dead from the impact.  “You guys alright?” Dean asked Jack.  It was easier to ask that question than to face Sam just yet.

“Dean!”  He heard Sam’s yell and turned just in time to see Sam thrown into a fallen headstone.  The ghost they were there to burn had decided to make an appearance, throwing Sam away from the grave as Dean tried to run towards it.

“Shoot it!”  He yelled at Jack. 

His military training seemed to be well honed, regardless of that fact that he was older.  He pointed the shotgun and aimed with deadly grace, the spirit dissipating as Dean slid through the dirt to grab the canister of salt.  It reappeared a second later and Dean looked away, trusting to his companions to keep it off his tail.  He dumped the salt into the coffin and then poured the accelerant into it. 

He took one last look over his shoulder as he flicked out the lighter.  Sam was standing behind Jack, helping Daniel up to his feet.   The ghost reappeared one last time as Jack brought the shotgun to bear and then it was gone forever, burning before their eyes as Dean dropped the lighter into the grave.

All three sets of eyes turned to look at him and Dean looked at his brother, ignoring the others.  “You okay Sammy?”

“Yeah, just a little roughed up.”

“What the hell was that?”  Jack didn’t look at Sam or Daniel, heading straight Dean’s way, shotgun still in hand.

“It’s what Sam was trying to tell you when you interrupted us.  We’re hunters.”

“And what the hell does that mean?”

“The supernatural.”  Sam took over.  Daniel was looking at Sam like he was something to study, an idea that really didn’t set well with Dean.  Jack was just looking like they were both out of their minds, no matter what he’d just seen.

“What you saw here was a typical salt and burn.  Some spirits turn vicious after a while and the only thing to do is salt and burn their bodies.”

“Salt?  A condiment, really?”

“It makes sense Jack.  A lot of cultures use salt in their rituals, a way to purify and protect.”

Sam smiled at Daniel.  “Exactly.”

“And the guy with the yellow eyes?”  Jack asked.

Sam’s eyes met Dean’s and he knew the demon’s words were rolling around his brother’s mind. 

“A demon,” Dean said.  “One familiar with our family.  They possess other people’s bodies to do their dirty work so if you don’t mind, I think it’s time to get the hell out of Dodge.”

“Not so fast.”  Jack said as Dean reached for their gear.  “Take it nice and easy back to your car and Sam can ride with us.”

He started to object but Sam got started first.  “Dean, its fine.  They aren’t going to hurt me.”

“Not so long as you play nice Dean-o.  We’ll keep your… your brother?  Your boyfriend?   What is it?”

Dean glared at the other man, but his anger was more because Jack caught that part of what the demon was saying than anything else.  “It’s complicated.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

Jack gestured to Daniel with military hand signals that might have confused him if they hadn’t been trained to recognize them as well.  It reaffirmed Dean’s notion that Daniel, for all the geek that he seemed to be, had seen combat.  He didn’t fear for Sam’s safety exactly, but he didn’t trust anyone with a gun at Sam’s back.

“Dean, just go.”  Sam said, as if he could read Dean’s mind.  “We’ll meet you back at the room.”

Dean nodded, deciding it was the best he could do.  Dean’s handgun was still under his pillow in the room and if he could get them to let down their guard there at least he had a chance of getting to it and evening out the playing field.  He just hoped once they got back to the motel they wouldn’t need it.  Sam was a quick enough talker that he might just get them out of this all before it turned nasty on either side.  He’d do what he had to do to keep Sam safe, but he wasn’t really looking forward to tangling with the United States Air Force.

 

 

  
  
 

Jack didn’t bother to ask questions along the way.  Daniel drove with Sam sitting beside him and Jack in the back, his handgun pointed at the other man’s back.  His mind raced with what he’d seen, but it wasn’t the first time Jack O’Neill had seen something unexplainable.  Just the first time someone had actually been there to try to explain it. 

Sam wasn’t going to say anything that wasn’t long since rehearsed without Dean at his side and he figured questioning Sam along the way was just a good way to piss Dean off.  He wanted the guy to talk, not clam up and he had the feeling that mistreating Sam in any way would shut Dean up faster than anything.  He was as protective of Sam as Jack was of Daniel.  He knew why he kept Daniel so close though, knew that even before they’d become lovers he’d kept Daniel out of harms way because it was his responsibility to.  He’d gotten Daniel into a hell of a lot of messes and it was his job to get him back out of them.

So brothers?  Lovers?  He knew what Jessica had said after the barbeque when Jack had been able to casually ask about the boys.  Dean Antilles had checked out when they’d run his background, nothing special that should have flagged him or left anyone wondering about who he was.  They hadn’t got the background check back on Sam though and he was beginning to think they should have sped that up before following the boys without backup.  Teal’c would have been good to have around, but he was off world and Jack wasn’t about to call him back without something more than just a hunch. 

It took twenty minutes to get back to the motel and there were a few times he thought Dean was going to try something funny when he would turn the wheel quickly but Sam reassured them that Dean was just avoiding the pot holes. 

When they got to the motel Dean was smart enough to get out of his car first and to keep his hands where Jack could see them.  Dean didn’t try to go to their room, but threw the keys to Daniel who caught them with the practice of a trained soldier, not the geeky scholar he had been once upon a time.

He exchanged looks with Daniel and then his partner was opening up the room.  Jack approved of the way he looked around, waiting for something even though they knew the two men had come alone.  When he nodded, they fell into line as they entered the room.

The room smelled stale, like sweat and sex and greasy take out.  Not all that different from their own.  He looked at Daniel and he could see the way he was watching the other two, trying to figure out the dynamics there.  Jack had a feeling they already had the answer.  Whatever the creature was, she’d called them brothers.  They hadn’t denied it but there was no point where Jack thought his initial assessment was wrong either.  The way they moved together spoke of more familiarity than could be explained by blood relation.  The way Dean had looked when the demon had been talking about Sam said it all, even if he hadn’t seen them together before. 

“So,” Jack said as Sam and Dean took a seat on the second bed.  Daniel was slightly behind them, sitting at the table as Jack leaned against the wall by the door.  He noticed a long line of salt across the floor and wondered about all the crap they were spouting before.

“You were talking about spirits.”  Daniel supplied as a way to start the conversation.  “And demons.”

Sam looked at Dean who shrugged slightly.  Whatever the dynamic Sam trusted Dean’s opinion and Dean trusted Sam to speak for them without saying more than was necessary. 

“Dean and I are hunters.”

“You said that before.  What do you mean by that?”  Jack asked.

“We find the things that go bump in the night.”  Dean said with a smirk.  “The ghost and ghouls that most people think are only nightmares are the things we go looking for.  We hunt them; make sure that they can’t hurt anyone else.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that?”

“Believe your own eyes.”  Sam answered.  “You saw a demon, you saw a ghost.  How do you explain it if what we’ve said isn’t true?”

“Daniel?”

The other man looked at him and shook his head.  “I’ve got nothing on this one Jack.  The yellow eyes weren’t goa’uld and that smoke coming out of her mouth was nothing like I’ve seen before.  For the ghost, we’ve come across a number of…” he hesitated over his next words, “creatures that could make a hologram of that nature but not that would have the ability to throw us around like that.”

“Opinion?”  Jack asked and he could see Daniel weighing it in his mind.

“They are what they say they are.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and Jack knew the sign.  Daniel was willing to fight for that opinion and Jack would have a hard fight at that. 

“Care to explain the innocent college student routine?”

“Innocent?”

Sam looked at his brother, a half smile forming on his lips as he shook his head.  “Don’t worry Dean, I’m sure your reputation is in tact.”

Jack shook his head.  “I’m sure you’re quite the rogue.  After all, it’s not every day you meet a nice young hunter who’s sleeping with his brother.”

Both jaws clenched tight and he wasn’t sure he wasn’t about to get a fistful, except that he still held the handgun and Dean wasn’t about to risk Sam over it.

“Jack.”  There was a warning in Daniel’s voice and he didn’t know what to think about that.

“What Daniel?”

“We believe them.  Don’t you think it’s time to make nice with the natives?”

“That’s your deal Daniel.”

“Then let me do it.”  Daniel got up then and stalked to Jack’s side, putting himself between the gun and the two hunters.  His eyes flicked down and even without that Jack knew he’d done it on purpose.

“You know what?  Fine.  I need a drink anyway.”

He holstered his gun and Daniel stepped back, giving him a little space. 

“Jack!”  He looked up at Dean’s voice and and reached out on instinct, catching car keys in midair. 

“Got two six packs in the back seat.”  Dean said with a nod to the car keys.  He knew it was a gesture.  He wasn’t sure if he should take them up on it or not, but he needed a little breathing space before he decided it was time to tie up the brothers and his lover at the same time.

He nodded back at Dean instead of commenting and decided to take the beer as a sign of good will.  See?  Daniel was making a diplomat of him after all.

 

  

  
             
        
Sam watched the door close and still didn’t know what to think of Jack O’Neill.  He obviously believed they were hunters, it was the rest of the story that he was having trouble with.  And they hadn’t gotten to the hustling, credit card fraud, or breaking and entering part of their lives yet.  Apparently the incest part was enough to send him packing. 

He looked at Daniel Jackson and couldn’t make heads or tails of the other man.  Curiosity was the only emotion the linguist displayed.  There was no unease in his movements, no gestures that showed a hint of discomfort or dislike.  He looked at Dean and he knew his brother’s expression mirrored his own, confusion. He decided he needed to get this going before Dean did.  Daniel Jackson was an unknown, and Dean didn’t like unknowns.

“Is he going to be okay?”  Sam asked.

Daniel looked away from the door where Jack had just disappeared.  He shook his head, as if getting himself out of the headspace and sighed.  “Oh yeah.  Jack’s fine.  He’s just… wrapping his brain around all of this.  We deal with some odd things on a normal basis, but this?  It’s something different and Jack doesn’t like different.”

Sam smiled because it was so close to his own thoughts of his brother.  Daniel frowned as he watched him.

“Something funny?”

“No, I just… I know someone else like that.”  He said, indicating Dean with his eyes.

Daniel smiled in return and Sam was back to that safe feeling he’d had at their first meeting.  “You gonna explain the rest of it?”

Daniel’s glance at Dean let him know exactly what the other man was asking about.  Dean snorted at the turn in conversation, lying back across the bed, leaving Sam to deal with it. 

Sam sighed as he looked away from Dean and up at Daniel.  There was no judgment on his face, just honest curiosity.  He wasn’t expecting that from someone in the military, even if the military person in question was a linguistics consultant.  “You heard what the demon was saying.”

“Yeah.  So, brothers, but I’m guessing Jessica had a reason to call Dean your boyfriend when she introduced you around.”

“Guessing?”  Sam asked.

Daniel gave a small shrug as he looked down, but when he looked back again there was a smile in his eyes.  “Maybe it’s not so much guessing as we’ve been stalking you since the picnic.”

“You guys are pretty good.  We had no idea we were being followed.”

“Jack is pretty good at what he does.”

Sam nodded, and then looked down at his hands for a minute.  “Look, I don’t expect you guys to understand.  You don’t know anything about the world we grew up in.  What you saw tonight wasn’t all that unusual for us and we’ve been doing this a long time.  What Dean and I are, it doesn’t fall into the realm of morals and other people’s idea of safe and clean, not in what we do or in what we became for each other.”

“I’m not here to judge you.”  Daniel said softly.

“Funny, it feels just like that.”  Dean propped himself up on his elbows to look at Daniel.  “Why are you following us, if not to judge us?”

Daniel looked back at the door to where Jack had disappeared and then back at them.  “We heard you talking about glowy eyed creatures at the picnic.  It’s… something similar to what we’ve faced before and we thought it might be the same thing.  Turns out it’s not, but that doesn’t mean we could just leave it to chance.  Especially with the General’s niece being close to you.”

“So you came to protect Jess?”

“You could look at it that way.”  Daniel said with a nod.  “That creature out there tonight, with the smoke?”

“The Yellow Eyed Demon.”

“Yeah.  It’s gone, right?”

“Ah, no,” Sam said with a shake of his head.  “The smoke was the real demon.  They possess people and control their bodies.  When we saw the smoke it was just escaping.”

“So how do you kill it?”

Sam loved that Daniel had a curious mind but the last thing he wanted to do was get into a weapons discussion with military personnel.  Dean didn’t have that issue though.  He nodded to his bag by the door. 

“We have a special gun, a colt made by Samuel Colt himself that can kill any creature.  We just have to shoot him.”

“Honey, I’m home!”  The door opened and O’Neill came through, toting the two six packs with him as he did.  Daniel rolled his eyes and Dean sat up straight as if he needed to be on his guard around the other man. 

Sam got it, he did.  It was like having Dad back in the room all of a sudden, being faced with the military efficiency of movement and the straight laced way of doing things.

“You got a pretty nice ride out there.”  Jack said to Dean as he handed off a couple beers to them.  He gave one to Daniel before setting the remaining beers on the floor between the beds.  He took a seat across from Dean before pulling back the tab on his own can and taking a long pull from it.   

Daniel stood, his eyes wild as he looked at the man who had his back to him, and the room seemed to tilt as Sam sat watching him.  With words that were damning beyond belief, Daniel looked up at Sam, his mouth pulled into a tight line as he spoke.  “That’s not Jack.”

 

Sam and Dean jumped to their feet at his words, but Jack’s movements were slow and cautious as he turned to look at Daniel. 

“Come on Danny boy.  What are you doing?” 

The words were right, the voice and tone, but there was nothing in the eyes that made him feel safe the way Jack did.     Behind Jack, or the not-Jack, Dean was moving ever so subtly and Daniel knew he had to keep whatever it was busy long enough for Dean to get what he needed.  “Jack would have handed me the beer first before anyone else, if he was going to offer to me.”  He said the first thing that came to mind.  Jack might be an ass from time to time but he was a chivalrous ass who held doors and bought gifts for his beloved.  That included things like giving him the first beer.

“You’re getting paranoid over my manners?  You’d think by now you’d be used to me being a pig.”

“Jack would never have taken that seat.  You were too close to the others and you had your back to me.  In the field, Jack might let me watch his six when we have to, but he usually watches mine.  He keeps me in sight and he’d never have just given the door his back when we were in a room with a guy who has a false identity.”

“Wow, you put a lot of thought into the things I do Danny.  Didn’t know you cared.”

“And Jack would never have taken a drink from a suspicious character.”

The man in front of him stood finally, turning his full attention to Daniel as he stepped closer.  Daniel backed away from him and the guy laughed.  “It’s always harder to fool the lovers.” 

A stark moment of fear passed through him as the not-Jack winked, eyes flashing yellow at him, a moment when he feared that his Jack was gone forever.  He straightened his back though because with everything else they’d faced together over the years this wasn’t something that could break him.  Whatever it was, it didn’t know the true mettle of Daniel Jackson. 

“Whatever the hell you think you can get out of this, you’re wrong.”

“Oh, I can get a hell of a lot, because it’s really, actually fun.”

Daniel felt himself thrown against the wall and in his periphery he saw the same fate fall on the brothers. 

“And now on to the evening’s main attraction,” the Yellow Eyed Demon said, leaving his back to Daniel.    “At least I don’t have to worry about Jack shooting me anymore.  It was a good time to leave though, don’t you think?  I wanted you both to have a little time to think about what I said before we finished this and I can’t imagine you two have stopped thinking about it.”

He could see the pain in Sam’s eyes, pain and disbelief, but there was nothing but acceptance in Dean’s.  No matter what the demon was throwing at him, Dean already knew.  He knew and he loved his brother none the less. 

“Demons lie,” Dean said, but even Daniel knew it was just something to throw out. 

“When they have to yes, but the truth is so much more vicious I find.”  The Yellow Eyed Demon moved closer to Sam, and Daniel could see Dean clearly.  Dean caught his eyes and looked pointedly down and to the side and Daniel slowly let his eyes follow the same path.  There, just a few feet to the left was Dean’s bag.  The one that carried the weapon they needed to kill this creature. 

He moved slowly, creeping forward little by little, knowing that this was likely the only chance he had to save them.  The demon wouldn’t make the mistake of turning his back on Daniel twice if he found him going for a gun.

He pushed the sound of Sam and Dean out of his head, ignoring the small moans that came from them as the demon pressed them harder into the wall just to make them uncomfortable.  He didn’t pay much attention, hearing things about special children like Sam and demon powers. 

When he pulled the gun out, he took one look at Sam and Dean and then another at Jack’s back.  He didn’t know what this would do to his lover.  He knew what he should do.  A bullet to the brain to make sure the creature never hurt anyone else ever again, but he couldn’t do it.  He couldn’t kill Jack, not knowing if his lover was alive through the whole thing or not. 

He pulled the gun up and aimed, knowing where best to hit to incapacitate a person.  He had to hope it was enough.  “I’m sorry Jack,” he said softly, then pulled the trigger.

The bullet took him through the shoulder and Dean started cursing as black smoke filled the air, rushing up into the ventilation as it erupted from Jack’s mouth.

He threw the gun down and caught Jack as he fell, pressing a hand to the wound and praying he’d done the right thing.

“You had a clean shot!”  Dean was yelling, but Sam was holding him back, like he understood. 

When Daniel looked up at them he knew tears were swimming in his eyes.  He’d just shot his lover, his best friend, and he didn’t know if he’d killed him or if some mythical creature had instead.

“I couldn’t.  I’m sorry.  I know what you wanted Dean, but it was Jack.  Could you pull the trigger on Sam?”  He demanded.

He saw the way Dean stopped pushing and then Sam was at his side.  “Let me take a look at it.”

“We need to get him to the hospital.”

“We can take care of it here.”  Something in Dean’s confidence let him know that they could and Daniel decided to trust them one more time.

 

 

Dean frowned as he looked across the street of the nice little suburban slice of American pie life that he’d always rebelled against.  It hadn’t been ten minutes after the demon was gone before Sam was down on his knees, hands on his head with a vision piercing through his skull.  He got the name of a town and then they were all scrambling.  Jack’s instinct was to call in the National Guard, literally, but they pointed out it wouldn’t do anything but get in their way.  He didn’t like it any but after a long drawn out fight they were finally agreed that the four of them would take it head on.

They’d spent the day going through records until Sam had called him with the address, having already met the child that was about to be ‘chosen’ like Sam.  He’d sounded really shaken up on the phone and it’d taken everything in Dean not to run to wrap an arm around Sam and keep him close.  Jack was with him though and he had to grit his teeth and wait to meet up with him at the motel.

Now, they were parked across the street, the clock ticking down as they waited for the demon to show.

“You’re sure something’s going to happen tonight?  Because it seems pretty quiet from where I’m sitting,” Jack said from the back seat, making Dean clench his jaw. 

Sam just nodded, not showing any signs of annoyance when Jack questioned him over and over again.  “We just have to wait for it.”

“I still don’t know why we couldn’t get the family into protective custody or something.”  Daniel said. 

Dean looked at his brother and bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing at his expression.  He always knew that he had authority issues and would rub the wrong way with anyone too much like himself, and he could admit that he and Jack had more than a warrior’s life in common.  He’d just never realized that Sam had problems with people like himself also.  Normally he handled it fine, but as they got closer to the hunt and Daniel continued to question him about it, he’d become more and more tight lipped.

“Because the demon doesn’t need to see a street address to find them.  He’ll get to the baby and we won’t be able to do a damn thing about it.  At least now we have a chance to save them.  If they run, it’s just putting off the inevitable.”

Daniel nodded, though he could see in the rear view mirror that it wasn’t a happy face.  Dean turned around to look at him.  “Look, it’s not perfect but it’s all we can do.  We aren’t the military or the police.  We can’t go in claiming jurisdiction and protection and set people up to live a good life while they hide from the bad guys.  Our bad guys don’t rely on bank accounts and phone calls to track you.  It’s not always an easy call, but tonight, if we let that little girl stay in her crib and keep an eye on her, maybe we can get this bastard for good.  If not, then any chance she has of growing up with a mother is gone.  I made that call, and I can live with it.  If you can’t, you should just get out now and let us handle it.  We won’t think any less of you.”

“You need me to make this work.”

“We can come up with something else.”  Dean said, not wanting to force Daniel into this.  He knew from the set of Daniel’s shoulders that he’d done some distasteful things in his life but no one liked to leave an innocent as bait.

“Daniel’s here to stay Dean.”  Sam said softly, his hand squeezing Dean’s knee lightly trying to back him away from the other man.  Jack was just watching the exchange in tight lipped silence. 

Daniel nodded though.  “I am.  I just don’t like it.”

Dean gave a small snort.  “Welcome to the wonderful world of hunting.”

“Dean!”  Sam’s tone had him looking away from them all and to the house they were watching.  The lights flickered as they watched and then, as Dean’s eyes caught on the window outside the baby’s nursery he saw a hand pressing into the glass.

He didn’t stop to call the others, jumping out of the Impala and rushing to the door.  Sam was on his heels and Dean had the door kicked open for Sam to slide through on his way to the nursery.

Jack and Daniel were right behind him and Dean was the last one up the stairs.  All four had their weapons out, guns ready to fire if the demon showed to them.  They were at the top of the stairs when Sam came out of the nursery.  He tipped his head to the side and Dean looked out the window and got a clear view of the backyard, Monica, Rosie’s mother holding her to her breast as the Yellow Eyed Demon stood next to her, smiling up at the hunters. 

“Damn it!” 

They came through the back door much the same as they had the front door.  None of them were willing to take the shot that might kill the mother or daughter, but they weren’t willing to lower their weapons just yet.

“So nice of you all to join me.  Now, give me the Colt and I’ll let them go.”

“You won’t.”  Sam said with a shake of his head.

“It’s a matter of leverage Sammy.  I have a lot of special children in the world, but there is only one Colt.  I can be reasonable.”  His smile faded as he pulled the mother close, tilting her head to one side, exposing the long, vulnerable line of her neck.  “Or I can kill her.  Your choice.”

“Fine!  Here it is!”  Daniel yelled out.  “Take it, just let them go.”

The Yellow Eyed Demon narrowed his eyes at the gun in Daniel’s hand, turning to look at Dean.  “Really?  That was your big plan?  To make me wonder which of you had the real Colt?”

The demon dragged the woman with him as he took a step closer to Dean.  “All I need to do is deduce what I know of you Dean.  And I really do know you.”

“That didn’t work so well for Vizzini.”

Dean bit his lip to keep from smiling at Jack’s Princess Bride moment.  So, the guy was going up a little in his estimate.

“You won’t let anyone else make this shot Dean.  You’ve spent your life running from one crappy motel room to another because of me.  Your mother burned on your little brother’s ceiling and your father turned into a broken desperate husk of a man who couldn’t see his little boy turn warrior because he was too busy looking away from anything that reminded him of his dead wife.”

The demon took another step closer.  “Stay the hell away from him.”   Sam’s voice was calm and cold, like a killer’s and Dean had never been so worried or proud of him.

The demon looked down, turning his head in Sam’s direction, a smirk on his lips.  “Forced to look after a little brother that never appreciated you or loved you the way he should have, always needing more than you could give, never letting you be who you were Dean.  Tell me, is it as good as Sam thinks it is when you fuck him, or do you just murmur the words into his ear because it’s what Daddy programmed you to do?  Take care of Sammy, take care of Sammy, how many times did you cry yourself to sleep in your brother’s crib those first years with that mantra?”

Dean felt his jaw clench, couldn’t help the way his eyes hardened at the memories that tried to crash into his head.  “You don’t know anything about us.”

“Did it make it harder, when you found out he was tainted?  Or was it easier to know that you were seduced by a monster?  That it wasn’t your little brother you were pounding into, but some demon tainted freak?”

“Only thing that’s easy is going to be putting a bullet through your skull.”  Dean managed to ground out. 

The demon laughed at Dean’s bravado, but threw a hand back and the other three were thrown against the back wall.  He felt an invisible hand around his throat and then he was trying to suck in air as the Yellow Eyed Demon pulled the antique gun from his fingers.

The demon looked up in surprise as he looked at the handle and Dean smiled as the demon’s power released him.  Dean grabbed for Rosie and her mother, pushing them in front of him through the back door of the house.  “Get out of here!”  He yelled to her.  He saw her grabbing for a pair of keys on the table by the door and that was all he waited for.  He ran back out to see the demon standing in front of Jack.  There was blood on the outside of his shirt and Dean knew exactly what the creature could do. 

His entrance into the yard was noted and Sam nodded at him.  “Hey bitch!”  He yelled.  The demon turned, glaring at Dean and he just smiled.  “You should have taken Daniel’s offering.”

The demon didn’t have time to move before the shot sounded in the silence of the night.  There was no black smoke, no unearthly sound, but what looked like blue lightening running from the bullet hole on the side of his head wrapping around his body, a storm of nature unleashed on the unholy beast. 

Dean stood stock still, watching even as Jack was congratulating Daniel on the shot.  He knew in his head that he was going into shock but nothing seemed to get to him.  Jack and Daniel were staring at him then and Sam was standing over the body as if he couldn’t believe it either.

Shock was settling into Sam also and that was what finally penetrated Dean’s fogged mind.  “Sam.”  Sam didn’t say anything, but stared at the fallen body.  “Sam?”  He crossed to his brother and then he was clutching his arms.  “Sammy, look at me.”

Sam seemed to respond to that, his eyes coming up to Dean’s.  “He’s gone.”

Dean nodded.  “Yeah.  He is.”

“We did it.”

Sam fell into Dean and he wrapped his arms around him, Sam’s heavy breathing against his neck grounding Dean into the moment.  One hand wrapped tightly into his brother’s jacket and the other slipped under the back, stroking up and down in easy soothing motions.

“Dean, are you okay?”

He looked up to see Daniel watching them closely, Jack talking into his cell as he walked into the house. 

“Yeah.”  He said softly as Sam started to pull away.  Part of him wanted to pull Sam back, to bury himself in his brother and mourn in private because that’s what this was.  Their entire lives had been stolen by this creature and now that he was gone there was no thought of celebration, but the need for shared grief.  “We will be.  It’s been a long time since we were out from under that thing’s shadow.”

“How long?”  Daniel asked.

He looked at Sam who was taking Jack’s phone, talking to Monica.  “Almost twenty years.”  Dean said softly.  “Mom died when Sam was six months old, burned in his nursery pinned to the ceiling above him.”

“Jesus, Dean.  I’m sorry.”  Daniel said and he radiated sympathy.  “How old were you?”

“Four.  Four years old and Dad handed me Sam when he went back in to try to save Mom.  Told me to take care of Sam and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

He felt a clap on his back and nearly started but Daniel’s eyes let him know who it was before the voice followed it.  “You did good out there Dean.”

He wasn’t sure why that was the breaking point but it was.  Maybe there was something about Jack O’Neill that reminded him too much of a man that wasn’t there, that had died to get the Colt and never had a chance to use it.  Maybe it was just the strain of the day, but he waved the compliment off and walked out of the house, leaving Jack and Daniel wondering and Sam with a knowing look in his eye.

 

 

Jack didn’t like to leave his people and he hated more than anything that he’d somehow managed to think of Sam Winchester and Dean Antilles as his people.  Oh, they knew exactly who they were now and he and Daniel knew far more about them than he figured any of them were comfortable with. 

Daniel, of course, was fascinated by the hunting sub-culture and he’d been talking non-stop about it since they’d dropped Sam off at the motel.  The Impala had been there already and they’d simply asked Sam to extend their goodbyes to Dean rather than to intrude on his grief.

Jack knew better than most how the end of a long trial could be harder than the trial itself, as you tried to come to terms with a new chapter of your life.  He didn’t envy Sam and Dean that road, but they were alive and he figured the two of them had one another and that had to count for something.

They’d spent the weekend relaxing after letting Hammond know they were back.  Jack had typed up his report as soon as they’d gotten home and Daniel had done his the next morning while everything was still fresh.  Not that either was likely to forget.

He expected a lot of noise and bluster as he stood in front of Hammond’s desk while he read the files but other than a quirk of the brow at the beginning, there was nothing.  When Hammond set the files down, he started tapping out something on the keyboard and then hummed thoughtfully as he looked at it a moment longer.

“You’ve been discrete about a few things I can see.” 

Jack knew his jaw was sitting wide open but couldn’t figure out how to close it.

“Um… certain …. aspects seemed unnecessary to discuss.”

Hammond nodded.  “John Winchester’s boys.  He was a marine but we had an eye out for him all the same.  Never could locate him to make him an offer.”

“An offer sir?”

Daniel didn’t get an answer right away because Hammond picked up the phone and began dialing.  “This is Hammond.”  He said into the hand held and listened for a minute before continuing.  “I have two new hunters to add to the books.  Sam and Dean Winchester.  Oh, and his alias, Dean Achilles.  They are already fully trained and on active duty.  Let’s get these boys some help ASAP.”

He hung up the phone and Jack shook his head.  “Sir?”

“All enemies, foreign and domestic, that’s what we’re sworn to protect against.  We all have our demons to fight Jack and sometimes the best ones for the job don’t come from an academy or basic training.  Take Dr. Jackson here.  Who would have thought he’d become the soldier he is today?”

Jack smirked because he knew Daniel hated to be thought of as a soldier, but he was what he was.

“If these two are as good as you say they are then we’ll give them the support they need, the support we were trying to offer their father.  We’ll give them some legs to stand on, and if push ever comes to shove, we’ll have a small but reliable network of hunters to call on.”

 

 

Sam slept for a day because that’s what Dean did.  When Jack and Daniel dropped him off at the motel it was with a promise to keep in touch.  Daniel was pushing to get him to at least meet with one of the Stanford professors about linguistics and Sam had promised to do just that.  It was an interesting idea and as Daniel had pointed out, he could get a lot of honest paying gigs working from a computer at home translating documents, especially in some of the archaic languages Sam already had a passing familiarity with. 

He’d walked into the room and found Dean passed out in bed, a mostly empty bottle of Jack on the floor beside his outstretched hand.  Sam picked up the bottle, tossed the rest of it back himself, stripped out of his clothes and curled up next to his brother, burrowing into him until the numbness that was starting to spread through his body felt more like alcohol and not something more profoundly life altering.

He woke the next night and grabbed a shower before calling Bobby. The other hunter was struck dumb for a few minutes and Sam had never had a more awkward, stunted conversation as Bobby asked what they were going to do next.  He cut the call short when he got to the local diner and had to order something to eat and Bobby didn’t seem too upset by that.  The news that the Yellow Eyed Demon was dead was almost as crazy as the idea that two men from the Air Force had helped them on the hunt that did him in.

When he got back to the motel with the food, he found Dean passed out again.  He could see from the steamed over mirrors in the bathroom that his brother had at least woken up long enough to shower, but there were two bottles of beer on the nightstand and when Sam tried to wake him there wasn’t even a grunt.

Sam ate his salad and then gulped down Dean’s burger as well in solitary celebration, washing it down with a beer.  He climbed back into bed with Dean, sitting up with his back on the headboard, and flipped through channels until he settled on old M*A*S*H reruns.  He didn’t think he made it through a single episode awake, though he startled up a few times, catching another few minutes of the show before he’d fall back to sleep.

Day three and he called Jess to let her know that he was going to be missing a few classes that week.  He was on good term with his professors and there were no tests this week so he wasn’t really worried about it but he knew her.  She’d get concerned if he didn’t show without a reason.      

Dean slept through most of the day as well and when he finally woke up and stumbled into the bathroom Sam didn’t say anything.  There was a part of him, an ever growing part that dreaded this talk with Dean.  His whole life his brother had been told to take care of him, protect him from the evil in the world.  With the Yellow Eyed Demon gone, would he lose his lover?  Even worse, would he lose his brother? 

The demon’s words came back over and over again, taunting him, even when he could hear Dean’s voice in his head reminding him that demons lied.  He wanted to put it off as that, but with Dean sleeping away his grief and Sam awake and worried, it was harder to put it off as lies.

He decided to run and grab food, this time stopping for pizza.  At least it would be good enough whenever Dean decided to wake back up again.  He was surprised when he walked back in the room and found Dean sitting at the computer, typing away.  He looked up and smiled as he took a deep breath.

“Dinner Sammy?  Knew I kept you around for a reason.”

Sam flinched slightly at the comment but he dropped the two pizzas on the table in front of Dean along with the sodas he’d nabbed.  “Gotta be good for something,” he said as he opened the top box and pushed it towards Dean as he pulled his own from underneath. 

Dean started eating but Sam could feel his eyes on him like he was sizing Sam up.  He ate half his pizza before he let himself really look at Dean.  His brother looked good, rested and clean shaven.  His shoulders didn’t have the hunch that often accompanied his posture.  If it weren’t for the slight frown on his lips, he’d have said Dean was happy. 

He pushed away from the table before he could ask Dean any questions.  As much as he wanted to know why his brother wasn’t smiling, he wasn’t sure he could stomach the answer.  Instead he curled back up on the bed, flipping through channels as he had been the last two days.

It only took a few more minutes before Dean was standing at the foot of the bed, towering over him.  “Sam?”  He didn’t look up and after a minute Dean stepped in front of the television. “Sammy?”

“Yeah Dean?”  He asked with a sigh.

“What’s with the silent treatment?”

“Nothing.  Just... tired man.  Trying to take it all in.”

“Yeah,” Dean said as he moved around the side of the bed to sit beside him.  “I mean, it doesn’t really change things, but it’s a lot.  We’re still at Stanford, still hunting sometimes, just … we finally got it.”

Sam smiled because as Dean bumped into Sam, his body pressing against his from ankle to shoulder, he knew what his brother was saying.  His breath caught as he looked at Dean, taking in the sight of his brother, smiling as though the whole world was suddenly right again.  There was something beautiful and open about his brother in that moment and Sam pressed in, his lips brushing against Dean’s.  His brother’s hand came up to cup his face, pulling him even closer as he opened to him.

When he came up for breath he let his forehead rest on Dean’s, sharing the same breath as he tried to remember a time when his world hadn’t been his brother’s.  They were so interconnected in every memory Sam had that he was never sure what was his and what was Dean’s.  Just like their life at Stanford, with hunting and school and dirty kisses in the stacks of the library and sweet smiles across the room when he wasn’t expecting it.  His life was Dean’s and Dean’s life was his.  They were Winchesters and maybe that’s what they’d always been meant to be.  Fused.  Unified.  Interconnected.  One.  

    
 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to alldunn who really kicked this story into shape for me! I was really worried about it until I got it back from her and then I was able to see some redemption in it :P And of course, so much love for inanna_maat for all the amazing art work she did! I was constantly getting these little presents in my inbox and it was amazing! Thank you so much!!!


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